Texas Cottage Food Law eases rules on home bakers

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Robert W. Hart/Special Contributor

Jennifer Evans sells baked treats from her home in Fort Worth. Changes to the Texas Cottage Food Law that take effect Sept. 1 will ease regulations on home bakers and expand where they can peddle their wares.

Home bakers tasted victory two years ago when the Texas Cottage Food Law made their businesses legal.

A set of revisions that take effect Sunday will sweeten the deal by expanding the list of places where home bakers can peddle their treats.

Under the updated law, cottage food producers can sell their goods at farmers markets, farm stands, fairs and festivals. Current rules require sales to take place exclusively at the baker’s house.

“Most of us do custom work, so we just don’t have people walking off the street to our homes,” said Denise DelVecchio of Midlothian, a home baker who campaigned for the changes. “So we have a limited opportunity to market our business.”

But as the farmers market season draws to a close, many home bakers will probably have to wait until next year to pitch their wares.

Several North Texas farmers markets are approaching the changes with caution.

The private operators of Dallas Farmers Market and Cowtown Farmers Market in Fort Worth have not discussed the law yet, representatives said. However, jam maker Kendra Myers of Fort Worth posted on a Facebook page for Texas home bakers that Cowtown Farmers Market had recently turned down her food because it’s homemade.

Nonprofit organizers of farmers markets in White Rock, McKinney and Frisco said they are seeking guidance from their local health departments about the law’s impact.

The Heritage Guild of Collin County, which runs the Historic McKinney Farmers Market, has questions about liability regarding products that have not been inspected, executive director Cindy Johnson said.

State law requires home bakers to label their goods as not inspected. Information about allergens and the name and address of the business also must be included.

While Historic McKinney Farmers Market supports the law, it also wants to avoid problems with customers, Johnson said.

“If we can find a way that we feel protects everyone, we’ll definitely have some of those vendors in our spring market,” she said.

Coppell Farmers Market will accept applications from home bakers, who will undergo the same process as other vendors, a spokeswoman said.

Others are finding business with churches. One of them is Jennifer Evans, who bakes cookies at her home west of Forth Worth. This fall, she will sell her sweets at the Victory Family Church craft fair in Burleson.

“It shows small businesses in Texas that there are opportunities,” Evans said about the law.

For home bakers, an expanded menu under the amended law is the icing on the cake. The list includes candy, coated and uncoated nuts, fruit and nut butters, granola, roasted coffee and other items.

Goods that require temperature control, such as cream or custard pies, are still forbidden.

Legislators also folded in some new requirements.

Food must be packaged to avoid contamination, except for bulky items like wedding cakes.

Several home bakers said they welcome the new rules, noting that many already practice them.

“It will make some people more comfortable with the home baker, you know, people who may have been apprehensive before,” Rockwall home baker Jennifer Brock said about the educational provision.

The law also clarifies that municipal zoning ordinances can’t ban cottage food operations.

The goal is to avoid mix-ups like one in Frisco last year, when a home baker learned from code enforcement that her business was not allowed.

In March, the Frisco City Council amended its ordinance to authorize cottage food activities.

Tarrant County opposed loosening of the Texas Cottage Food Law during the legislative process. David Jefferson, the county’s environmental health manager, said the cottage food industry would benefit from a second set of eyes.

“There are those operators who do a wonderful job, and there are those operators who do not,” Jefferson said. “And at least in the regulated industry, you have someone independent looking at that.”

A separate law that will also take effect Sunday will loosen rules for preparing samples at farmers markets and conducting cooking demonstrations.

Removes requirement that water used for washing hands or utensils be disposed of in a facility connected to the public sewer system or in a manner approved by enforcement agencies.

Allows a farmers market to host a cooking demonstration if someone with a food manager’s license supervises the demonstration. The market also must comply with the requirements for a temporary food establishment permit.

Prohibits charging a permit for a cooking demonstration or provision of samples if these activities are conducted for a “bona fide educational purpose.”

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